The Hardest Change is Within
by SavedByGrace14
Summary: Derek's Economics teacher challenges him to think differently about life.
1. Chapter 1

It was a Tuesday morning at school and neither Casey nor Derek knew that their life would change within the next days. Derek was hanging out with some girls by his locker. Casey was talking to Emily about their science project. They had not come in contact all day, well except for breakfast. After they left their home, they took different rides.

3rd Period-

Economics

"So as you can understand, even with the little things that some of us have, we actually have much more then 3rd world countries." Miss Daze explained to her class.

Derek was staring out the window. He found class boring and he honestly did not care about 3rd world countries. 'Not my problem, I don't need to deal with it'. 'What I do care about is that chick that gave me her number this morning. OK, so I don't **care** about her, but I would not want her to get hit by a truck. She is a really good kisser.'

"Mr. Venturi. Come here to the front of the class."

Derek got kind of scared. He had no idea what his teacher wanted from him. He went up to the front of the class and winked at the girl he met earlier.

"Derek, What is your most prized possession?" His teacher asked.

"My Ipod."

"Would you say you need your Ipod in order to survive?"

"Yes." A couple students laughed. 'They probably have Ipods too.'

"I want it." She said this with complete seriousness.

"No."

"I'll fail you if you don't give me your Ipod for the week."

"Fine." He grabbed his backpack from under his desk and took the Ipod out. He could not fail this class. His dad would not let him play hockey anymore.

After taking the Ipod, she said to the class, "Everyone who laughed; I want your Ipods too. I know who you are and I can fail you as well." 5 students got up and took their Ipods to the front. One guy kissed his Ipod goodbye and went back to his seat crying. 'Loser' Derek thought as he looked at his Ipod longingly.

"This is to teach you that you don't need these things. These things are wants, privileges, and not needs. For the next week, we, as a class will be learning about what we need. We will also be learning about kids your ages that don't even have those needs. Be prepared. I might ask you to do things you normally would not do or might make you uncomfortable." Miss Daze said, her eyes scanning the classroom as if she was in a military camp.

The class groaned. Thankfully the bell rang and the students hurried to get to the door.

"Class, Tomorrow, I want you to bring something you don't think you could live without. Derek, Spencer, Allie, Kendra and Nick, you don't have to because I already have your Ipods. See you all tommorow."

A/N I know this is short, because it is kind of a preview for the story. Tell me if you like it so far, and if you have any ideas.


	2. Chapter 2

The Hardest Change is Within

A/N- March 31st (tomorrow) is my birthday! I'll be 17!

After school, Derek came home mad. He hated the fact that his teacher took away his Ipod. He made sure everyone in the household knew he was mad, especially Casey.

"I want the remote now. I need sports therapy." Derek went over to the couch and plopped down next to Casey.

"I am watching 'As The World Ends'. It's the one where Dan is cheating on Veronica and her sister knows that he is cheating but does not tell her," Casey told him as she watched the TV screen intently.

"That's because her sister _is_ his secret lover."

Casey turned away from the TV to give Derek a strange look. Derek just shrugged.

"Sam watches soaps sometimes, so I know things," Derek quickly recovered.

"Sure." Casey tried to hide a smile.

"So, Remote." Derek reached out for the remote.

"No."

"Yes."

"No. You don't always have to be in control." Casey scooted over to the other end of the couch so she was out of Derek's reach.

"Fine. You leave me with no choice. Give me the remote or else I'll tell Lizzie that you read her diary."

"You wouldn't, and I'm not reading it. I'm merely checking up on her."

"Whatever you want to call it. Lizzie!" Derek called for Casey's sister and she comes in from the kitchen.

"Yeah?"

"Casey has something she wants to tell you." He glares at Casey.

Casey mimics his look back at him. "Fine, Der-ek! Have your stupid remote!" She flung it at him and walked into the kitchen.

"Actually, I don't want it anymore." Derek put on a smug smirk.

Casey comes back into the living room. "Argh, You are so frustrating!"

"And yet you still talk to me."

"Do I have a choice?" Casey asked him.

"We all have choices, Case," Derek replied with a smirk still firmly mounted to his face.

Lizzie was still standing there. "Um, I'm going to excuse myself now," She says and goes upstairs.

"What is your problem Derek?"

"Miss Daze took away my Ipod."

"I heard about that. So, what's the big deal?" Casey gave him a 'duh' look.

"It just ticks me off." There was no longer a smirk on his face; it was replaced with an angry frown.

"Come on, Der. It can't be that bad."

"Whatever."

"I want to know why you are so mad." Casey looked at him inquisitively.

"Because…. I have stuff on there."

"I don't get it."

"I have teen pop songs on my Ipod. Ya know, Brittany Spears, Hannah Montana."

Casey started to laugh but Derek slapped her with the remote.

Casey went to hit him but he grabbed her arms and put them behind her back. "I don't think so."

"Derek let me go."

"Don't try to hit me."

"You hit me first."

"You're not seven, Case."

Casey used her feet to push Derek away from her. "Ha."

Derek jumped on top of her. "Now what you gonna do?"

Casey had to think fast. "This." She found a spot near his rib cage gave it a tickle.

"That's not fair." He tickled her back.

A tickle fight ensued. Both of them were laughing so hard that they failed to notice George and Nora standing behind the couch. This would have not been weird at all, but since Derek was on top on Casey, and to the casual observer it would like a lot more then a tickle war, Casey blushed and whispered in Derek's ear. Derek hastily jumped off Casey and sat on the other side of the couch.

"Hi Dad, Nora. What's for dinner?" He smiled at them and gained his composure as Casey fixed her hair.

A/N- I just wanted to make some fluff and satisfy all those Dasey fans (I am one too). The rest of the chapters will have more relevance to the plotline.


	3. Chapter 3

The Hardest Change is Within

3rd Period-

"Who wants to go first?"

It was Economics class and as Miss Daze promised, she made everyone give up the thing they treasured most. Everyone in the classroom was silent, hoping that they would not get picked to go first.

"Alright, Lets start with Mr. Laster. What is your most important possession?"

Robert reluctantly went to the front of the class. He looked over at the class in a somber style. He unzipped his backpack and took out an apple. He winked at the class and handed the apple to the teacher.

"You, Miss Daze!"

The whole classroom started laughing at his practical joke. Even the "Great Derek Venturi" gave him respect by clapping his hands together for him.

"Why thank you Robert, but you still need to give up something of value. Now take a seat."

He went back to his seat. Before he reached it, he passed by Derek and gave him a high five. Derek laughed and nodded his head in approval.

"Mr. Venturi? Are you involved in this charade?"

"No, Miss Daze."

"Alright. Let us get back to the task at hand. Miss Rivers, what do you have?"

Rebecca Rivers walked slowly to the head of the class. In her arm she held a picture frame.

"What have you got there?"

She revealed the picture to the class. It was a picture of a young girl and an older looking man. As she began to speak, she looked teary eyed.

Derek whispered to the guy next to him, "Is that her boyfriend?"

"This is my dad. He died when I was 13. He was killed on duty as a firefighter. This was the last picture that we took together. I take it everywhere I go because he said he would look after me for the rest of my life."

Almost instantly Derek felt bad for her. Why? Had he ever experienced this emotion before? Why was it so powerful?

"Rebecca, why don't you keep that dear? I'm sorry about her father."

"Thank you Miss Daze." She went back to her seat and wiped her eyes off with her sleeve.

Derek had never noticed Rebecca. She had short brown hair cropped around her ears. As she turned to smile, he noticed she had brown eyes. She also had a nose ring.

Derek politely smiled back and turned his attention to the window.

"Next up is Derek Venturi."

"Huh?" He snapped out of his hockey fantasy and focused on the teacher.

"It's you turn Mr. Venturi?"

"I went last time. Remember? You stole my Ipod."

"Oh that's right. Interesting song choices, by the way."

Derek turned red in the face.

"Mr. Cooling," Ms Daze called out.

Brad took out a box from under his desk.

"These are all my Sports Illustrated Magazines. I don't know how I could survive with out them. Especially the swimsuit editions."

Some of the other guys, including Derek, gave some hollers and the girls gave him dirty looks.

"Thanks for your sacrifice," Ms Dazed replied with an awfully concerned look on her face. 

A few other students after that took turns giving up their possessions. Most of them were childish and worthless. One girl gave up her favorite lip-gloss. One computer geek gave up his thumb drive. Another girl decided to give the teacher her purse because without it she would be nothing.

All this made Derek thing about what's really important to him. He knew his family was important. He loved them very much, especially his sister Marti. He would be lost without her. He liked his new step-mom. She was pretty cool- for a step-mom. He realized that there are more important things that make-up and Ipods. After school that day he intended to let his family know how special they were to him.


	4. Chapter 4

The Hardest Change is Within

Derek went home right after school and hoped he would get there before anyone else came home. He had to think about what he wanted to do. He did not want to do "too much" work, but he wanted it to be something to let his family know that he was not always a jerk that only cared about his own self. He needed to let them know that he really did care about all of them, even if he hardly ever showed. He sort of felt bad. Maybe he needed to show more love more often. He vowed that he would start doing more "little things" for the people he loved. He got a brilliant idea- in his opinion- and ran up to his room to write it down.

Later that day right before dinner-

"George dear, where's Derek," Nora asked while setting the table.

"He has been in his room all night. I have not seen him all day."

"Huh. That's weird. Maybe I should sent Casey to check on him."

George shrugged.

"Casey! Will you check on Derek? I am getting worried."

Casey was reluctant at first but agreed when she saw the worry lines showing on her mother's face. She started walking up the stairs.

"Thanks Casey," her mother shouted while Casey was already at the top of the stairs.

"No problem," Casey muttered under her breath as she made her way to Derek's room. The door was open a crack so she took that as a sign that she was able to come in. She stood there at his doorway and watched the strangest scene she had seen since living in the Venturi household. There was Derek Venturi sitting at his computer desk writing as fast as she could type. She wondered what he was intently writing about, but she was almost afraid to ask.

She cleared her throat and Derek jumped a foot in his chair before turning around. He hid what he was writing under his books and faced Casey.

"What do you want?"

She walked to his bed and sat down on it. "My mom is concerned because you have been spending the whole day in your bedroom. Why?"

"Why what?"

Casey rolled her eyes and looked at him like he was stupid. "Why spend so much time in here? What were you writing?"

He raised an eyebrow and cleared his throat. "You know that I was writing? Did you see any of it?"

Casey raised her eyebrow back at him and then replied, "No, but why are you so jumpy?"

"No reason."

"Come on Derek, I know you better then that. Something is totally up." Casey got up and went towards him, looking around at his desk. "I want to see what you are up to?"

"NO Casey," He said a little to sudden and anxiously.

Casey gave him a weird look.

Derek tried to regain his composure. "I mean… they are just hockey notes. Ya know, boring hockey notes. You would have no interest in them what so ever." He smirked but Casey could tell he was lying.

"Fine… just come down for dinner. I'll find out what you are doing soon enough." Casey left the room with a sigh.

Derek let out a sigh of relief. When he knew she was downstairs, he took out the papers from underneath his textbooks and set them on his desk. There were 6 different papers. As he looked at the top of the stack, he noticed something was wrong. There were only five papers.

"Oh no! Not this. This is not happening." He started to pace the room and bite his nails as he tried to think about what could have happened to the first letter.

Downstairs in the living room-

Casey looked at her hand with the folded piece of paper in it. She had taken it when Derek was trying to come up with his really good excuse. She figured he would not even notice it was gone. She unfolded the paper and read the first line. She gasped and threw the paper away from her as if it were on fire. After a few moments of shock, she grabbed it again and re-read the first lines.

"Dear Casey,

I want to let you know that I love you, Klutzilla. You mean more to me then I will ever know how to tell you…."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N- I have been busy and I keep forgetting to update my stories. I really do miss you guys and I want to update everything over my Winter break. I wanted to post a chapter before Christmas as a Christmas present. Sorry I could not do that, but it is the thought that counts. Well, my friends, here is finally another chapter. I must warn you though, this chapter had a mind of it's own, so it is off topic, sorry.

Previously-

Casey rolled her eyes and looked at him like he was stupid. "Why spend so much time in here? What were you writing?"

He raised an eyebrow and cleared his throat. "You know that I was writing? Did you see any of it?"

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Casey looked at her hand with the folded piece of paper in it. She had taken it when Derek was trying to come up with his really good excuse. She figured he would not even notice it was gone. She unfolded the paper and read the first line. She gasped and threw the paper away from her as if it were on fire. After a few moments of shock, she grabbed it again and re-read the first lines.

"Dear Casey,

I want to let you know that I love you, Klutzilla. You mean more to me then I will ever know how to tell you…."

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Casey grimaced as she finished reading the rest of Derek's letter. "I know I am not the best step-brother, and I never have been, but somewhere between arguing with you and teasing you, I fell in love with you."

'Oh no! It can't be! Derek is in love with me?'

Casey breathing became faster as she continued to read. "I know you probably won't believe it. I hardly believed it at first. I don't know how it happened either. One day, I hated everything you did and the next day I wanted to just grab you and kiss you."

Upon reading this line, her knees got weak under her and she collapsed onto the floor with a loud thump.

"Casey?"

She heard a voice, but did not want to open her eyes yet.

"Case? Come on, wake up!"

"Hmmm?"

"Good, you're okay."

Casey slowly opened her eyes to see a relived expression on a very worried Derek. She slightly smiled and went to sit up, forgetting that she had just passed out. She sat up too fast and everything became dizzy. She fell backwards, but Derek grabbed her arm pulling her towards him.

"I can see you are still disoriented."

"I am just fine." Casey stood up and walked to the other side of the room to prove her point. She tried to make it back to where she was originally, but the room started spinning again. She screamed as she fell forward. Derek jumped up from where he was sitting and caught her waist.

"Come on Case. Don't try anything stupid."

"Gosh Derek, I don't need your help! Leave me alone!"

"Fine, if that's what you want." Derek let go of a wobbly Casey but would not leave her side.

"Fine, if you won't leave, I'll have too." Casey stormed up into her room and after he ran after her, she slammed the door in his face. After giving up on trying to talk to her, he went back downstairs. He then found the letter lying on the floor next to where he had found her. He grabbed the letter and went back up to her room.

"You forgot something," He said as he knocked on the door.

She opened the door. "What would that be?"

"Your letter." He handed her the piece of paper and with a hurt look on his face, turned away and went his into his own room.

Casey closed her door and sat on her bed with the letter still in her hands. She thought for a minute about throwing it away, but she decided to finish where she left off.

"Even though you may never love me back, I wanted you to know. There it is.. I lay my feelings on the line. Please don't hurt them.

Love,

Derek"

Once she finished, she closed her eyes and fell back into her bed. 'What am I going to do?' She lay like that, with occasional crying, until she fell asleep.


End file.
